Annotation of www/sparc.html, Revision 1.51
1.3 fn 1: <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//IETF//DTD HTML Strict//EN">
2: <html>
1.1 deraadt 3: <head>
1.25 johns 4: <title>OpenBSD/sparc</title>
1.3 fn 5: <link rev=made href=mailto:www@openbsd.org>
6: <meta name="resource-type" content="document">
1.25 johns 7: <meta name="description" content="the OpenBSD/sparc page">
1.3 fn 8: <meta name="keywords" content="openbsd,sparc">
9: <meta name="distribution" content="global">
1.16 deraadt 10: <meta name="copyright" content="This document copyright 1996 by OpenBSD">
1.3 fn 11: </head>
12:
1.50 jason 13: <body bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000" link="#23238E">
1.3 fn 14:
1.50 jason 15: <img alt="[OpenBSD]" src="images/bsd_small.gif">
1.1 deraadt 16:
1.3 fn 17: <hr>
1.50 jason 18:
19: <p>
20: OpenBSD/sparc runs on most of the 32bit Sun SPARC workstations, including
21: the sun4, sun4c, and sun4m architectures
22: (not the 64bit <a href="sparc64.html">Ultra SPARC</a> computers).
23: The current port maintainer is
24: Jason Wright (<a href="mailto:jason@openbsd.org">jason@openbsd.org</a>).
25: Others are definately welcome to contribute!
26: </p>
27:
1.38 downsj 28: <img align=right vspace=5 hspace=5 src="images/sparc.gif">
1.37 deraadt 29: <h3><font color=#0000e0><i>Table of contents</i></font></h3>
1.29 downsj 30: <p>
31: <ul>
1.50 jason 32: <li><a href="#history">Past history of the port</a>
33: <li><a href="#status">Current status</a>
34: <li><a href="#info">Where to get it</a>
35: <li><a href="#hardware">Supported hardware list</a>
36: <li><a href="#projects">Project list</a>
1.29 downsj 37: </ul>
38: </p>
39:
40: <hr>
41: <a name=history>
1.37 deraadt 42: <h3><font color=#0000e0><strong>History:</strong></font></h3>
1.3 fn 43:
44: <p>
1.1 deraadt 45: The original BSD4.4 port was done by Chris Torek as a contract to
1.50 jason 46: LBL. The code was released by Chris in mid-1993, and Theo de Raadt
1.1 deraadt 47: worked it into shape for the NetBSD tree. Theo and Markus Wild worked
48: on improving Chris' original SunOS compatibility code into a highly
49: complete and reliable emulation. Chuck Cranor ported the sun4c code to
50: the 8KB pagesized Sun4 architecture, and Theo merged this code in a
51: way that would allow the same kernel and programs to run on either
52: sun4c or sun4 machines (unlike Sun's seperate kernel environments).
53: This last change also required a rewrite of the device configuration
1.25 johns 54: code. Just after the NetBSD/sparc 1.0 release, Peter Galbavy wrote an
55: ESP scsi device driver as a replacement for Chris' sparc-specific scsi
1.50 jason 56: code, this new driver unfortunately had some problems and was eventually
57: replaced.
1.3 fn 58: </p>
1.1 deraadt 59:
60: <p>
61: At this point a conflict emerged between Theo and the other people he
62: started the NetBSD project with, and Theo was forced by the core group
63: to resign from NetBSD. After Theo left NetBSD, a few people in the
64: NetBSD group did some other things for the port: Paul Kranenburg
65: ported a floppy driver and started writing support for the 4/400.
66: Chuck spent many long hours working on the ie, xy, xd device drivers.
1.3 fn 67: </p>
1.1 deraadt 68:
69: <p>
70: Theo continued working independently, and made a number of additions:
71: P4 support, flexible boot strategy, a few graphics drivers with help
72: from John Stone, and masses of bug fixes. Many people will be most
73: interested that the ESP scsi driver has been completely replaced by
74: Theo, and that it supports disconnect/reconnect.
1.3 fn 75: </p>
1.1 deraadt 76:
77: <p>
1.25 johns 78: Work on porting OpenBSD/sparc to the sun4m platform was started by Theo,
1.36 todd 79: but tendinitis problems with his wrists and the problems with the NetBSD
1.7 deraadt 80: core conspired, and he stopped work. Theo passed his initial sun4m work
81: to Aaron Brown of Harvard, who was paid out of Margo Seltzer's research
82: funds. This initial stuff consisted mostly of a few attempts at building
1.8 deraadt 83: pmap structure that could support all 3 MMU types efficiently. Also,
1.50 jason 84: David Miller of the S/Linux project got a little bit involved.
1.7 deraadt 85: </p>
86:
87: <p>
1.27 downsj 88: Theo and Jason Downs merged the NetBSD sparc code back into OpenBSD, making
1.50 jason 89: OpenBSD/sparc usable again. Jason Wright wrote a few new SBus Ethernet
90: drivers with information from the S/Linux project and has merged a few bits
91: from NetBSD sources to improve the stability of this architecture.
92: </p>
93:
94: <p>
95: And work continues...
1.3 fn 96: </p>
1.1 deraadt 97:
1.28 downsj 98: <hr>
1.29 downsj 99: <a name=status>
1.37 deraadt 100: <h3><font color=#0000e0><strong>Current Status:</strong></font></h3>
1.28 downsj 101:
1.1 deraadt 102: <p>
1.50 jason 103: The people working the most on OpenBSD/sparc are
104: Jason Wright, Theo de Raadt, and Todd Fries.
105: </p>
106:
107: <p>
1.34 johns 108: Email may be sent to the maintainers and users of the OpenBSD/sparc port at
109: <a href="mailto:sparc@openbsd.org">sparc@openbsd.org</a>.
110: To join the OpenBSD/sparc mailing list, send a message body of <b>"help"</b>
111: to <a href="mailto:majordomo@OpenBSD.org">majordomo@OpenBSD.org</a>
1.50 jason 112: and you will receive a reply outlining all of your options.
1.6 downsj 113: </p>
114:
115: <p>
1.25 johns 116: An important note about OpenBSD/sparc is that it is designed so that
1.30 downsj 117: a single kernel can run on <b>ALL SUPPORTED</b> sparc machines. Whereas
1.26 downsj 118: SunOS and Solaris have always had separate `kernel architectures', ie. sun4,
119: sun4c, and sun4m, the same `GENERIC' OpenBSD kernel will run on all the
120: supported models.
1.15 grr 121: </p>
122:
123: <p>
1.50 jason 124: Most of the problems with OpenBSD/sparc are believed to stem from the wide
125: variety of sparc processor and cache implementations along with their
126: undocumented bugs, rather then general kernel problems.
1.15 grr 127: Feedback on which models do and do not work reliably is
128: appreciated, particularly with the newer sun4m implementations like the
129: Fujitsu TurboSparc and Ross HyperSparc based systems and upgrades.
130: </p>
131:
132: <p>
1.17 johns 133: The installation tools and process as of the 2.1 release are greatly
1.50 jason 134: improved over previous releases of OpenBSD, and more work has been done
135: with each successive release. OpenBSD/sparc can be installed
1.17 johns 136: or upgraded via floppy boot images on sun4c and sun4m, miniroot images
1.50 jason 137: for machines without floppies (and sun4 machines), as well as network
138: and diskless installs.
1.3 fn 139: </p>
140:
141: <hr>
1.29 downsj 142: <a name=info>
1.37 deraadt 143: <h3><font color=#0000e0><strong>Where to get it:</strong></font></h3>
1.29 downsj 144:
1.1 deraadt 145: <p>
1.22 johns 146: <ul>
147: <li><a href=ftp.html>Snapshots are made available from time to time.</a>
1.50 jason 148: <li><a href=ftp://ftp3.usa.openbsd.org/pub/OpenBSD/2.3/sparc/INSTALL.sparc>Installation information for the 2.3 release of OpenBSD/sparc</a>
1.22 johns 149: </ul>
150: </p>
1.3 fn 151:
1.22 johns 152: <p>
1.3 fn 153: <hr>
1.29 downsj 154: <a name=hardware>
1.50 jason 155: <h3><font color=#0000e0><strong>Supported hardware list:</strong></font></h3>
1.1 deraadt 156:
1.25 johns 157: <h4>OpenBSD/sparc runs on the following classes of machines:</h4>
1.3 fn 158: <ul>
1.50 jason 159: <li> sun4: 4/100, 4/200, and 4/300
160: <li> sun4c: SS1, SS1+, IPC, SLC, SS2, IPX, and ELC. (<strong>Please note
161: that SBus DMA peripherals do not work in some of the slots of an
1.49 deraadt 162: SS1 or SS1+</strong>).
1.50 jason 163: <li> sun4m: at least the LC, LX, 4, 5, 10, and 20. A few cpu
1.17 johns 164: combinations do not work reliably, as well as a few odd memory
165: configurations.
1.50 jason 166: <li> Typically it works on faithful clones of these machines
1.3 fn 167: </ul>
1.50 jason 168:
169: <h4>Supported devices</h4>
170:
171: <p> This list of basically declares that any `stock' sun4c or sun4m
172: "sparcstation" or "sparcserver" machine will probably work; for sun4 machines
173: one must be more careful.
174:
1.3 fn 175: <ul>
1.19 johns 176: <li> Sun keyboard and mouse
1.50 jason 177: <ul>
178: <li> Type 2, 3, 4, and 5 keyboards with several layouts
179: </ul>
1.19 johns 180:
181: <li> Floppy drives:
182: <ul>
1.50 jason 183: <li> sun4c and sun4m floppy disk drive
1.19 johns 184: </ul>
185:
186: <li> Serial ports:
187: <ul>
1.50 jason 188: <li> ttya and ttyb on-board serial ports (can be used as console if needed)
189: <li> 4/300 ttyc and ttyd on-board serial ports
190: <li> SBus magma serial port cards, including: 4Sp, 8Sp, 12Sp, 16Sp, LC2+1Sp,
1.43 deraadt 191: 2+1Sp, 4+1Sp, and 8+2Sp.
1.19 johns 192: </ul>
193:
194:
195: <li> Audio support:
196: <ul>
1.50 jason 197: <li> sun4c on-board audio
1.19 johns 198: </ul>
199:
200: <li> Framebuffers:
201: <ul>
1.33 downsj 202: <li>SBus, MBus and sun4c/sun4m on-board video:
1.19 johns 203: <ul>
1.50 jason 204: <li>bwtwo - black and white.
205: <li>cgthree - 8-bit color, unaccelerated.
206: <br>The cgthree driver also supports the cgRDI, an onboard
207: cgthree-like framebuffer found in some laptops.
208: <li>cgsix - 8-bit color, accelerated (GX, GX+, TGX, TGX+).
209: <br>This should work with most faithful emulations/clones of the
210: SBus cgsix.
211: <li>cgfourteen - 8-bit color (24-bit MBus accelerated card, but the
212: driver only properly emulates a cgthree).
213: <li>TCX - 8-bit color (24-bit, but driver currently emulates a cgthree).
1.19 johns 214: </ul>
215:
216: <li> 4/200 on-board bwtwo
217:
218: <li> P4 video (4/100 and 4/300):
219: <ul>
1.50 jason 220: <li> bwtwo - black and white
221: <li> cgthree - 8-bit color, unaccelerated
222: <li> cgfour - 8-bit color, 1-bit overlay, unaccelerated
223: <li> cgsix - 8-bit color, accelerated
224: <li> cgeight - 24-bit color, 1-bit overlay, unaccelerated
1.19 johns 225: </ul>
226:
227: <li> VME video (sun4):
228: <ul>
1.50 jason 229: <li> cgtwo - black and white
230: <li> cgthree - 8-bit color, unaccelerated
231: <li> cgsix - 8-bit color, accelerated
1.19 johns 232: </ul>
233: </ul>
234:
235: <li> Ethernet adapters:
236: <ul>
1.50 jason 237: <li> on-board AMD Lance Ethernet
238: <li> SBus AMD Lance Ethernet cards
239: <li> SBus cards containing both AMD Lance and "esp" scsi
240: <li> on-board Intel 82586 Ethernet (ie0 on 4/100 and 4/200)
241: <li> VME Intel 82586 Ethernet cards
242: <li> SBus 10/100Mbit hme found on SunSwift and Quad FastEthernet boards
1.51 ! jason 243: <li> SBus 10/100Mbit qec+be found on Sun FastEthernet boards (SUNW,270-2450)
1.19 johns 244: </ul>
245:
246: <li> SCSI controllers:
247: <ul>
1.50 jason 248: <li> on-board "esp" SCSI controller (sun4c, sun4m, and 4/300)
249: <li> SBus "esp" SCSI controller (Also works with several 3rd party
1.41 deraadt 250: esp compatible boards)
1.50 jason 251: <li> SBus cards containing both AMD Lance and "esp" scsi
252: <li> VME "SUN-3"/"si" SCSI controller (interrupt driven DMA)
253: <li> 4/110 "SCSI Weird"/"sw" on-board controller (polled DMA)
1.19 johns 254: </ul>
255:
256: <li> SMD and other disk controllers
257: <ul>
1.50 jason 258: <li> Xylogics 7053 VME/SMD disk controller ("xd")
259: <li> Xylogics 450/451 VME disk controller ("xy")
1.19 johns 260: </ul>
261:
1.3 fn 262: </ul>
1.1 deraadt 263:
1.25 johns 264: <h4>OpenBSD/sparc does *not* run on these machines (yet):</h4>
1.3 fn 265: <ul>
1.50 jason 266: <li> sun4: 4/400 (lacks support for the I/O cache, and has Ethernet problems)
267: <li> sun4m: older systems with Viking (TMS390Z55) processor modules
268: without external cache chips, aka SuperCache, aka MXCC, aka PAC.
269: <li> sun4m: model 4/600 -- uses auxio registers, sun4m VME, I/O cache?
270: <li> sun4m: with Ross HyperSparc processor modules
271: <li> sun4d: SPARC Server 1000, SPARC Center 2000 -- XD-Bus vs. M-Bus,
272: MP issues.
273: <li> sun4u (<a href="sparc64.html">sparc64</a>): UltraSPARC 64-bit machines.
274: <li> It does not work on most Solbourne machines, which are quite different.
1.3 fn 275: </ul>
1.19 johns 276:
1.15 grr 277: <p>
1.50 jason 278: OpenBSD/sparc on the 4c/4m machines is critically dependent on configuration
279: information returned by the OpenBoot PROM. A sparc clone that differs
1.15 grr 280: substantially from the Sun model as far as device names and properties will
281: require additional work in this area.
1.1 deraadt 282:
283: <h4>Unsupported Devices. First of all, there are MANY unsupported devices.
284: A comprehensive list can probably not be written.</h4>
1.3 fn 285: <ul>
1.50 jason 286: <li> Serial Cards:
1.19 johns 287: <ul>
1.50 jason 288: <li> VME mti 16-port serial card
289: <li> VME alm2 16-port serial card
290: <li> VME mcp 4-port serial card (or is it 8 port)
1.19 johns 291: </ul>
292:
1.50 jason 293: <li>Disk Controllers:
1.19 johns 294: <ul>
1.50 jason 295: <li> VME "sc" SCSI controller
296: <li> VME IPI controller
1.19 johns 297: </ul>
298:
1.50 jason 299: <li> Ethernet adapters:
1.48 deraadt 300: <ul>
1.50 jason 301: <li> SBus Quad Ethernet Controller (mace Ethernet): support should
302: be coming soon for these boards.
1.48 deraadt 303: </ul>
304:
1.50 jason 305: <li> Framebuffers:
1.19 johns 306: <ul>
1.50 jason 307: <li> VME cgfive, 8-bit color, 1-bit overlay, double-buffered,
308: unaccelerated without GP/GP2
309: <li> VME cgnine, 24-bit color, 1-bit overlay, double-buffered,
310: unaccelerated without GP/GP2
311: <li> VME GP/GP2 Graphics Processor (drives a cgfive or cgnine)
312: <li> SBus cgeight 24-bit color, unaccelerated
313: (note: SBus cgeight is quite different from VME/P4 cgeight)
314: <li> SBus GS, 24-bit color, 8-bit color, overlay planes, double-buffered,
315: 3-D acceleration (aka cgtwelve)
316: <li> SBus GT, 24-bit color, 8-bit color, overlay planes, double-buffered,
317: 3-D acceleration (aka Graphics Tower)
318: <li> SBus ZX, 24-bit color, 8-bit color, overlay planes, double-buffered,
319: 3-D acceleration (aka Leo)
320: </ul>
321:
322: <li> SBus cards other those listed above
323: <li> On-board Audio and ISDN hardware present on some sun4m systems
324: <li> Multiple Processors/Modules in sun4m systems
325: (OpenBSD will not currently boot on machines with multiple processors.)
1.3 fn 326: </ul>
1.1 deraadt 327:
1.3 fn 328: <hr>
1.29 downsj 329: <a name=projects>
1.50 jason 330: <h3><font color=#0000e0>Project list:</font></h3>
1.21 johns 331: <ul>
1.50 jason 332: <li>Merge in useful NetBSD work.
333: <li>Start work on device drivers for unsupported framebuffers.
1.51 ! jason 334: <li>Sun Quad Ethernet Card (qec+me) support
! 335: <li>SUNW,CS4231 (sparc4 and sparc5 onboard audio)
! 336: <li>SUNW,bpp (parallel port driver)
1.21 johns 337: </ul>
338:
339: <hr>
1.26 downsj 340:
1.44 pauls 341: <a href=plat.html><img height=24 width=24 src=back.gif border=0 alt=OpenBSD></a>
1.1 deraadt 342: <a href=mailto:www@openbsd.org>www@openbsd.org</a>
1.3 fn 343: <br>
1.51 ! jason 344: <small>$OpenBSD: sparc.html,v 1.50 1998/08/29 00:18:28 jason Exp $</small>
1.3 fn 345:
346: </body>
347: </html>
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